


Upside Down

by Blizzard96



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, Stranger Things AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-02-01 09:52:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12702420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzard96/pseuds/Blizzard96
Summary: Jihoon finds himself stringing up Christmas lights though it has nothing to do with the holidays, Soonyoung finally has a chance to show off his knowledge of Morse code, and Seungcheol is really sick of his phone exploding.Inspired by Stranger Things





	1. But He Was Just Here

“So we’re clear on what everyone needs to bring in tomorrow?” Mingyu asked, looking over the Google doc they’d set up. He glanced around the table to see his fellow group members nodding with varying degrees of enthusiasm. He couldn’t blame them. Doing a project about the behavior of various plant life was not his idea of a good time either, but this was worth forty percent of their final grade. At least their professor had taken pity on their class and allowed them to choose their groups.

“Everyone brings in three potential articles for sources and summarizes them,” Seungkwan relayed, packing his laptop away. “Yeah, we got it.”

“And we’re meeting tomorrow at noon in the cafe,” Seokmin added.

Mingyu nodded, shoving his own laptop into his bag. “As long as everyone knows…” He trailed off as his eyes landed on Vernon, who was scribbling away frantically in his notebook with his earbuds in, blissfully unaware of the world around him. “Vernon?” he tried.

“Hey!” Seungkwan said, raising his voice and earning the group a few dirty looks from other students in the library. He jostled Vernon’s shoulder lightly, making the boy jerk up.

“What?” Vernon asked, rushing to pause his music and shove his earbuds in his pocket. Seokmin laughed at the boy’s startled expression.

Mingyu sighed. “We’re meeting up tomorrow at noon and you need to have three articles by then.”

Vernon nodded. “Oh, right. Sounds good.”

“You should take your earbuds out more,” Seungkwan scolded. “It’s dangerous to not be aware of your surroundings.”

Vernon grinned sheepishly. “I just work faster when I have music.” He shoved his notebook in his backpack and got up with the others. “I have to head back to my apartment.”

“I’ll walk part of the way with you,” Mingyu volunteered. Their apartments were only about five minutes apart. Vernon nodded and the two of them waved to Seungkwan and Seokmin as they left the library.

The walk back was fairly uneventful, both of them chatting about their classes and professors. Vernon was worried about his music class since they had a large end of semester assignment coming up. Mingyu assured him that it wasn’t that bad a class (he’d had the teacher last semester), and if Vernon was really worried, Mingyu was sure that Vernon’s room mate Jihoon would help him. Jihoon was a year older than Mingyu, and vastly more talented with regards to composition.

“I don’t know,” Vernon grimaced. “He’s brilliant with music, don’t get me wrong, but he’s really strict about his arrangements. I’m a little scared to go to him for feedback.”

Mingyu laughed. “That’s fair.” Despite Jihoon being almost a foot shorter him, Mingyu had a healthy amount of fear with regards to the other boy. “Maybe you could ask Soonyoung? He’s written a few things.”

Vernon hummed. “Maybe.” They came to the point where their paths diverged. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Vernon said, pulling out his earbuds.

Mingyu sighed. “Seungkwan was right. You’ll get in serious trouble one day if you don’t pay attention to where you’re going.”

“Seungkwan nags too much,” Vernon replied, making a face. “It’s only a few minutes of walking. I’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say,” Mingyu said. They said their final goodbyes, and Mingyu began walking toward his own apartment. He didn’t think much about the incident, Vernon really was only a few minutes from his building. He’d have to try really hard to actually get in trouble in that time frame.

 

* * *

 

Vernon was fairly stressed out. Despite Mingyu’s advice, he was still nervous about the rapidly approaching deadline for his music class. Maybe he would actually bite the bullet and consult Jihoon about his song. Jihoon was something of a prodigy after all with nearly every professor in the music department gushing about his arrangements. There was no doubt the other boy would have some tips. Vernon was so absorbed in his thoughts and the music pounding in his ears, he almost didn’t feel anything was off.

He made it to his building and trudged up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. Still humming along to his music absentmindedly, he fumbled around in his pockets for his keys and unlocked his door. He made sure to lock it behind himself because Jihoon got particular about that and had lectured Vernon before about it. The apartment was quiet with Jihoon being at his lecture until five, still about three hours away, so Vernon resigned himself to making a snack before getting started on homework. He finally pulled his earbuds out and moved to the apartment’s tiny kitchen.

Vernon opened the door to the fridge with a sigh, making a mental note that he and Jihoon needed to make a run to the grocery store soon, preferably the next day. All that was in the fridge was a half gone gallon of milk, four eggs, and some cheese. The pantry was equally sparse with only half a bag of chips, some rice, and a box of Gushers. Vernon decided that it would probably be best to save the eggs for dinner, and grabbed a pouch of fruit snacks for himself.

He had just started scribbling down a grocery list on a post-it when he heard a scraping sound at the apartment door. Vernon paused mid letter as the scraping continued. He frowned and put the pen down. He didn’t remember any of the current residents at the apartment having a dog, but the noise definitely sounded like some kind of animal trying to get in. Uneasiness began to churn in his gut as the scraping got louder.

He glanced at the door warily and moved toward his room to grab a baseball bat that he kept by his bed, not taking his eyes off the door on the way. He was probably just being paranoid, but it would at least help his peace of mind to have a weapon. The lights in the apartment flickered, adding to his anxiety.

“They always flicker,” Vernon muttered to himself unconvincingly, glancing at the hallway lights. Much to his relief, the scraping at the door stopped. Vernon paused in the hallway, a few feet from his room, and sighed. He shook his head. The stress of his classes must be getting to him.

There was a soft click, and Vernon’s head shot up, looking to the door in alarm. He watched in disbelief as the lock turned on its own and the chain began to slide along its track until it dropped free. Without thinking, Vernon bolted into his room, locking the door behind him and grabbing the bat by his bed. He tried to get as far away from the door as possible, holding the bat in front of him with wide eyes. 

“This can’t be happening,” Vernon whispered as the lock on his bedroom door began to turn by some unseen force. The door suddenly slammed open with overwhelming strength, only to reveal no one in the hallway. The lights overhead began to flicker with increasing intensity. “What is going on?!” Vernon yelled, looking around as shadows played on the walls of his room. There was a deep guttural growl like nothing he’d ever heard before, and then he was gone.

 

* * *

 

Jihoon stomped into his apartment, locked the door behind him, and dropped his bag on the couch before flopping on it himself. He was mentally exhausted from his science class, and honestly frustrated that he had to take the course when it wasn’t even related to his music major. He rubbed his eyes.

“Vernon!” he yelled, not opening his eyes. His room mate was usually back at this time, and most days the two of them decided what they would do for dinner together. Jihoon was really not feeling up to cooking that day, but they were already stretching their budget. He frowned when Vernon didn’t reply after a minute. “Vernon?” he called again. Still no response. He opened his eyes and got to his feet.

He trudged into the kitchen while checking his phone. Whenever Vernon was going to be absent for dinner, he texted Jihoon before hand. There were no texts from him yet, but maybe Vernon had forgotten. When Jihoon looked on the kitchen counter, there was a pack of Gushers and a yellow post-it with a half finished list of groceries. It was in Vernon’s handwriting, so the boy had clearly come back from his classes, but the list was cut off in the middle of the word “eggs” (or at least Jihoon assumed it was that word as he couldn’t think of another that started with ‘eg’). That was a little more alarming, but Jihoon brushed it off since Vernon could be a bit absent minded at times.

Jihoon began to dig through the fridge and pulled out a couple eggs to make an omelet. Maybe Vernon had just stepped out to go to the corner store and pick up something for dinner instead, or maybe he’d remembered that he had to meet a friend for dinner at the last moment. Jihoon sent off a text to Vernon to let him know that he’d started making dinner himself and to text back if he wanted Jihoon to make something. He then locked his phone and started cooking.

After a couple of hours, the unease in his stomach grew as there was still no sign of Vernon. The boy was usually pretty good about texting back, and Jihoon had never known him to stay out this late. Jihoon pulled out his phone and sent off another text to Vernon asking where he was before pulling up Seungkwan’s number. He knew Vernon had met with his group today, so maybe he was hanging out with one of the members.

 

**Jihoon**

Hey, are you with Vernon?

**Seungkwan**

I haven’t seen him since two when we met for our project.

He walked home with Mingyu though, maybe ask him?

 

**Jihoon**

Hey, is Vernon with you?

**Mingyu**

No

I walked back with him earlier though

**Jihoon**

He’s not at the apartment

**Mingyu**

He’s not????

Well I haven’t seen him since then

**Jihoon**

I’m sure it’s nothing

He probably forgot to text that he was going out

 

Jihoon bit his lip, starting to get worried. Maybe he was overreacting. Vernon was likely just spending the night somewhere and his phone ran out of battery before he could text Jihoon. Yeah, that was probably it. After all, it wasn’t like people just disappeared. Jihoon shut his laptop from where he was composing a song on the couch and walked back to his room to get ready for bed.

On the way back, Jihoon saw that Vernon’s bedroom door was wide open with papers blown everywhere. The bat usually by Vernon’s bed was in the middle of the floor, making Jihoon frown. Something was very wrong, he could sense it, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He decided to think about it more in the morning if Vernon still hadn’t turned up or texted back. Jihoon trudged to his room and pulled out his night clothes, glancing at the light in his room that flickered alarmingly before stabilizing. He grimaced. The last thing he needed was to have to call an electrician. Hopefully that was a one time thing and he wouldn’t need to worry about it.


	2. Lucky Number Eight

The next morning, there was still no sign of Vernon. The boy’s door was still wide open like Jihoon had left it the night before with no indicators that anyone had gone in. Now that Jihoon looked into the room more closely, Vernon’s backpack and books were also in his room and hastily thrown in a corner, suggesting that Vernon definitely hadn’t left for class early either. At this point every sign had Jihoon tensing, and he had skipped his first class of the day in favor of texting Mingyu again and going over the whole apartment for any clues as to his room mate’s whereabouts.

 

**Jihoon**

I haven’t seen Vernon all morning. I think something’s wrong.

**Mingyu**

I’ll text Seungkwan about it. He has everyone’s number. I’ll put it in the group chat too just in case.

 

**Support for Various Talents**

 

**Mingyu**

Has anyone seen Vernon lately? Jihoon says he didn’t come home last night.

**Seokmin**

I haven’t seen him since the group project.

**Seungkwan**

He wasn’t in our first class. I’ll ask around.

**Jihoon**

Seungcheol, can you ask Wonwoo if there are any school policies about this kind of situation? He’s on the student council, right?

**Seungcheol**

I’ll try.

 

* * *

 

Seungcheol knocked on the apartment door firmly, unease churning in his gut. Since it had only been one day since Vernon’s disappearance Jeonghan had suggested they all might be over reacting, but something didn’t sit right with Seungcheol. After a minute of silence, he knocked again on the door, harder this time.

“Coming! Hold on, geez.” The door swung open a few seconds later, revealing a tired looking Wonwoo who had apparently just awoken from a nap. Wonwoo frowned at his friend. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen the group chat? Vernon’s missing,” Seungcheol replied. Wonwoo raised an eyebrow, but opened his door wider so Seungcheol could enter. He locked the door behind him.

“He’s missing?” Wonwoo asked, making his way to the beat up couch in the apartment’s communal area and picking up his phone from the coffee table. “How long has he been gone?” He scrolled through the group chat’s earlier messages.

“Apparently Mingyu walked him most of the way back to his apartment from the library, but he wasn’t home when Jihoon got back from class. He wasn’t there this morning either,” Seungcheol said.

“Maybe he had to go meet someone?”

Seungcheol shook his head. “His backpack was still in the apartment along with his wallet and keys.”

Wonwoo frowned. “That’s definitely concerning.”

“Can you do anything to get out the word to any of the higher ups in school?” Seungcheol asked.

Wonwoo grimaced. “Officially, we can’t declare him missing unless he’s been gone for forty eight hours.” 

Seungcheol blew out a breath in frustration. “That’s just great.”

His friend shrugged apologetically. “We can organize a search ourselves, we just won’t have university help.”

“We could do that,” Seungcheol said, nodding. “I’ll put it in the group chat. Be on the campus’ main lawn at six.”

Wonwoo nodded. “Even though I can’t report it yet, I’ll have some of the council ask around. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

 

* * *

 

It was raining, adding to the already depressing atmosphere as the group huddled together on the lawn. Thankfully there was no lightning, but the group decided they’d go out looking for an hour that night and then again longer the next night when the weather would hopefully be better.

“Stay in your groups,” Seungcheol lectured. “And keep your flashlights and phones on. I don’t want anyone getting lost or hurt.”

“Okay dad,” Seungkwan muttered, making Soonyoung laugh beside him.

“Be back here in an hour, and text the group chat if you find anything,” Seungcheol finished, and with that they all split up to comb the campus and the woods around Jihoon and Vernon’s apartment.

Seungkwan looked at the other members of his group, Mingyu, Seokmin, and Chan. “We should start near the apartment and then work our way outward in a grid. I read online that tactic works best.”

Mingyu nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Everyone watch your step. It’s muddy.” They set out into the woods, shining their flashlights all over the place.

“Vernon!” Seokmin yelled, almost screeching when his light landed on a twisted form, only to realize it was a tree.

Chan laughed. “You’re such a scaredy cat.”

“Am not,” Seokmin pouted. “It’s totally reasonable to be jumpy when we’re in the woods at night. This is how horror movies start! What if there’s a kidnapper or something that took Vernon?”

“In that case,” Chan replied, digging into his pocket before pulling out a slingshot triumphantly, “I have this!”

“Is that really going to do anything?” Seungkwan wondered.

“It’ll do enough to give us time to escape,” Chan said, shoving it back in his pocket. They kept walking through the woods for a while yelling for their friend, to no avail. There was no sign of Vernon in the woods, and the rain was rapidly washing away any chance of finding tracks.

Mingyu checked the time on his phone. “It’s almost been an hour,” he reported. “We need to get back on campus.”

“We’ll search again tomorrow,” Seokmin said, trying to get their spirits up as they retraced their path through the forest.

“I hope Vernon is somewhere dry,” Seungkwan muttered, looking up at the dark clouds. “The weather report said it was going to start raining more this evening.” Because of how late in the year it was, it was already dark by the time they turned around. Seungkwan kept waving his flashlight around half heartedly from the back of the line, though he was convinced he wouldn’t find anything.

Suddenly, his flashlight landed on a figure, who quickly scrambled out of the light’s path. Seungkwan shrieked, and threw his hands up, sending his beam of light everywhere. The rest of the boys turned around in alarm.

“What is it?!” Mingyu asked, eyes darting around.

“There’s someone there!” Seungkwan exclaimed, pointing his light back at where he’d seen the figure move before. All the other boys pointed the light in that direction, only for them all to land on a boy who they hadn’t seen earlier.

“Agh!” Seokmin yelped, stumbling back. Chan’s hand immediately moved to grab his slingshot until Mingyu’s arm stopped him.

“Wait a minute, it’s just a kid,” Mingyu announced. Now that they had all calmed down, they could see that it was in fact a kid about their age, squinting in the light with a scowl on his face.

“He doesn’t have clothes,” Chan whispered. The boy was, in fact, only wearing an oversized T-shirt that barely covered him and did little to protect him from the rain overhead. He looked tired and dirty with cuts running up his bare feet and his hair shaved close to his scalp.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” Mingyu said, raising his free hand non-threatningly. “Are you from around here?” The boy frowned at Mingyu’s words as if he couldn’t quite understand them. “What’s your name?” Mingyu tried again.

The boy blinked before raising his left wrist for them to see the dark black numbers inked there. “Eight.”

 

* * *

 

“They should have been back by now,” Joshua said, worried. He absentmindedly fiddled with his flashlight in agitation. The six members were huddled on the lawn in the rain, frantically checking their phones for any news from Mingyu’s group. “I’m going to go look for them,” he said determinedly, gripping his flashlight tighter.

“They still have five minutes to get back,” Seungcheol said uncertainly, biting his lip.

“We shouldn’t have split up,” Joshua muttered. “How could we let all the younger kids go off like that?”

“They’re all at least eighteen,” Jeonghan said. “They should be able to take care of themselves.”

As if on cue, all their phones beeped.

 

**Mingyu**

Seungkwan dropped his phone in a puddle and we all went to my apartment to get a bowl of rice. Sorry we missed the check in. We didn’t find anything though.

 

The group let out a collective sigh of relief. 

“See?” Jeonghan said. “They’re fine.”

“But there’s still no sign of Vernon,” Jihoon added with a frown.

“It’s too dark and hard to see right now,” Wonwoo said. “We can look again tomorrow if he’s still gone.”

“My last class lets out at five,” Soonyoung said. “We can meet up at six again like we did today.”

Seungcheol nodded. “If that works for everyone?” he looked around the circle, but no one disagreed. “Alright. I’ll send off a reminder tomorrow morning then. Everyone try and get some sleep and warm up so you don’t catch a cold.” The group broke up and went their separate ways to their various apartments. Seungcheol and Joshua walked together toward their own.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Joshua asked once they made it back. He hung his wet raincoat up by the door and toed his shoes off. “I hope he’s not stuck outside.”

“I don’t know,” Seungcheol replied honestly, pulling his own wet clothes off. He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up in spikes. “I honestly just don’t feel good about this.”

Joshua hummed. “That makes two of us then.” He moved toward the apartment kitchen. “I’m going to make some hot chocolate.”

Seungcheol muttered his thanks as he flopped down on the couch and pulled out his phone again. He fired off a text to Mingyu’s group about the plan for the next day and received an affirmative reply a few seconds later. He then sighed and set his phone down on the couch next to him, closing his eyes for a moment.

His eyes snapped open when he heard his phone vibrate. Seungcheol looked down to see an unknown number calling. He was usually hesitant to answer calls he didn’t know, but he found himself picking the phone up. Maybe one of Wonwoo or Seungkwan’s friends had found something.

“Hello?” he said hesitantly.

“Seungcheol…” a voice said, static cutting in and out. “Can…hear me?”

“Vernon?!” Seungcheol blurted, alert in an instant. Though the voice was a bit distorted, he could definitely make out his friend’s voice. “Vernon is that you?”

There was a clanging sound and suddenly Joshua was darting out of the kitchen with wide eyes. “Is that Vernon? What’s he saying?”

“Vernon, where are you?” Seungcheol asked. “We’ve been looking for you!” There was only a smattering of static, and an unexpected jolt of electricity made Seungcheol drop his phone on the ground with a yelp of pain. The phone sparked a few more times before giving an explosive noise and falling dead, thin trails of smoke wafting up from it. Joshua and Seungcheol both stared at the exploded phone with wide eyes for a few seconds before looking back at each other.

“Something’s very wrong,” Seungcheol said finally. Joshua nodded wordlessly, eyes darting back to the phone. As if to accentuate his words, the lights in the apartment flickered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shouldn't have bought the Galaxy Note 7 bro


	3. Monsters Are Due

Mingyu had never been more grateful to live alone. Originally he’d wanted to get an apartment with one of his friends, but things hadn’t worked out in time and he had gotten stuck with the whole apartment to himself. It had been lonely, but at least Jeonghan had lived a floor above him (God knows they couldn’t be room mates) and he saw his friends every day, so it didn’t make that much of a difference in the end.

Now, though, the empty apartment worked in his favor as he watched the boy they’d picked up in the woods scarf down an entire box of cereal followed by at least three Eggo waffles. Mingyu observed with wide eyes from across the table, absentmindedly wondering where exactly the boy put all the food he’d consumed. Then again the boy was really scrawny, to the point of looking malnourished, and Mingyu’s conscience insisted that he keep feeding him, even if that meant dipping into his other budgets.

He flinched when the pantry behind him creaked open and a second box of cereal floated past his head to pour another bowl. The other boy raised an eyebrow challengingly, as if Mingyu actually had the guts to try and stop him, before his eyes flicked back to his breakfast that he continued to shovel down. Mingyu closed his eyes briefly, wondering how exactly he’d gotten himself into this mess.

 

* * *

 

_“We can take him back to my place,” Mingyu said, surprising even himself with the offer._

_Seungkwan gave him a disbelieving look. “What we need to do is take him to the hospital or the police station.” The boy, Eight apparently, frowned._

_“No,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Seungkwan._

_Seungkwan looked a little intimidated, but stood his ground. “You’re clearly in no shape to be out in the rain like this. We need to call your parents or friends. And you’re injured!” He gestured to the many small cuts on the boy’s arms in legs, doubtlessly from running through the forest at night. Seungkwan had already pulled out his phone to start calling either the rest of their group or the police, when suddenly the phone shot out of his hand to land in a puddle._

_“No,” Eight repeated, glaring at Seungkwan._

_“What the hell?!” Seungkwan yelped, looking from his phone to the boy and back again._

_“Oh my god, I was right,” Seokmin muttered, edging backwards. “This is a horror movie and we’re all gonna die.” Chan’s hand was already edging toward his slingshot, only for the boy to notice his movement and send the slingshot flying out of his pocket with a wave of his hand. Chan squeaked._

_“I’m too young to die,” Chan muttered._

_“I don’t think we’re going to die if everyone calms down,” Mingyu said, trying to channel Seungcheol’s leader voice._

_Seokmin looked at him in disbelief. “The boy just threw things with his mind!” he said, flapping a hand at Eight. Said boy gave him an unimpressed look. “What if he, I don’t know, snaps our necks with his mind?!”_

_Mingyu regarded Eight warily. Despite his earlier aggression, the boy seemed pretty reasonable (though Mingyu couldn’t think of a single good reason to be barefoot in the middle of the woods at night, but to each their own). “Okay,” Mingyu addressed the newcomer, “We don’t want to hurt you. What do you want?”_

_Eight looked uncertain. “Food.”_

_Mingyu nodded slowly. “Okay. Food. We can get you that. Right guys?” He looked at the others and they nodded along furiously._

_“No phones,” Eight added._

_“No phones,” Mingyu agreed, ignoring Seungkwan muttering under his breath. “We can go to my apartment and get you some food. How’s that?”_

_There was a nerve wracking pause before Eight relaxed a bit. “Yes.” Mingyu let out a sigh of relief._

_“My apartment is this way,” he said, uneasily turning around and beginning to walk in the direction of his building. All the other boys filed after him and Eight. Mingyu could hear their frantic whispers and Seungkwan’s distressed cry as he fished his now dead phone out of a puddle, but decided to tune them out, if only to settle his own nerves. He risked a glance at Eight, who was staring at the ground intently as they moved. It was going to be a long night._

 

* * *

 

Mingyu’s phone buzzed, causing Eight’s head to snap up from his cereal.

“Just my phone,” Mingyu explained, pulling the device out of his pocket. Eight blinked and went back to eating. With a relieved sigh, Mingyu checked the message.

 

**Seokmin**

How’s he doing?

 

**Mingyu**

Fine, but I’m going to have to go grocery shopping soon

 

**Seungkwan**

I still think it’s a bad idea to keep this from the others

 

**Mingyu**

Once you can figure out how to explain this without Eight killing us, I’m all ears

 

**Seungkwan**

I take that as he still doesn’t want to call the police or his parents

 

**Mingyu**

The last time I asked he blacked out my entire apartment

 

**Chan**

Has he said anything about where he came from?

 

**Mingyu**

No. I haven’t gotten much more than ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ out of him

 

**Seungkwan**

Maybe he’s a runaway. It did look like he hadn’t eaten in a while

 

**Mingyu**

I’ll just keep an eye on him until he decides to talk

 

**Seokmin**

Alright. I’ll take notes in Calc for you

 

Mingyu looked up from his device to see that Eight had finished his cereal and was now making ripples appear in the bowl of milk. With his mind. Mingyu ran a hand through his hair.

“So, what are you going to do next?” Mingyu asked, breaking the silence. “Do you have somewhere to stay?”

Eight frowned. “Find him,” he finally said.

Mingyu sat up straighter. This was the closest he’d gotten to learning something about the boy. “Him? Who is that?” Eight looked frustrated, as if he was struggling for a word. “A brother?” Eight shook his head. “Father? Friend?”

Eight tilted his head. “Friend?” he asked in confusion.

Mingyu blinked. What kind of life had this boy been living if he didn’t even know what a friend was? “You know,” Mingyu said, making a gesture, “Like someone you’re close to. Someone you trust.” At Eight’s still bewildered expression he continued. “Like you believe they would help you no matter what.”

“Trust,” Eight repeated, turning the word over in his mouth. “Yes. Friend.”

“Okay, so you’re trying to find your friend,” Mingyu said. “Does he have a phone?”

Eight shook his head. “No.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

Eight’s brow furrowed. “The bad men have him.”

Mingyu felt a shiver run down his spine as the boy’s gaze turned downright threatening. “The bad men? Who are they?”

Eight looked around in frustration before standing abruptly, and walking over to grab a newspaper from the recycling bin near the door. “Them,” he said, pointing to a photo of a group of men standing outside a recently opened research facility that had been built only a few miles away from the college campus. Mingyu looked at the grainy photo with a growing sense of dread.

 

* * *

 

Seungcheol barely suppressed a groan as he looked at the price tag of the cell phone he’d been examining. As a broke college kid, he really didn’t have the funds to be buying another phone, but they were essential in this day and age. He looked at his room mate in despair. “And this is the cheapest one you could find?” he asked.

Joshua winced apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Alright,” Seungcheol muttered, putting the phone and charger in his shopping basket.

“I’ll buy groceries this week,” Joshua offered, ever the thoughtful one. Usually they switched off who bought groceries, but buying a phone really put a dent in Seungcheol’s usually carefully planned budget.

“Thank you,” Seungcheol muttered gratefully. “If I was buying, we’d both be eating ramen packets for the week.” Joshua laughed as they moved to the front of the store to checkout. “I wonder why it exploded though,” he said as they waited in line.

“I’m not sure,” Joshua replied. “I even asked my friend in mechanical engineering and someone else in computer science why that happened and they were stumped.”

Seungcheol frowned. “It was Vernon though. I know it was.”

“I’m sure we’ll find him,” Joshua said, biting his lip. “If he was able to call once, hopefully he’ll be able to again.”

Seungcheol nodded, feeling slightly better about the situation. “I just want him come back soon.”

 

* * *

 

It was Seokmin’s turn to take out the trash, Seungkwan having taken it out three days ago. Seokmin huffed as he wished, not for the first time, that he and Seungkwan had a bigger trash can that didn’t require emptying every few days, but that would have to be a dream for another day, like when he actually had a reliable income. He tossed the bag into the dumpster with a grunt, wiping his hands on his jeans and grimacing at the smell.

He had just turned around to head back into the apartment building when he heard a clang. He froze in his tracks and turned around to see a metal trash can next to the dumpster shaking like there was something inside it. Seokmin briefly tried to recall what animals lived in the woods around his apartment. Maybe it was a squirrel or something.

Suddenly, the trashcan made a trilling noise that Seokmin had never heard a squirrel make before. In fact, he couldn’t recall any animal that made that noise. On one hand, it could be a rabid animal, but on the other it could be something trapped in the trash can. Against his better judgement, he found himself approaching the trash can. He grabbed the lid’s handle cautiously before yanking it off and jumping backwards with a shriek in one movement, holding the lid in front of him as if it were a shield .

When nothing jumped out of the trash immediately, Seokmin slowly lowered the lid. He crept back toward the trash and peered into it, ready to bring the lid up if necessary, only to see a slimy looking tadpole creature sitting in the trash can, happily eating some pizza crusts. Seokmin frowned. He couldn’t recall any of the tadpoles that his third grade class raised making the noises he’d heard earlier, but maybe this was a different breed or something. He could look it up online later.

“Hey there,” he muttered to the tadpole thing. It looked up at him, as if finally noticing it had an audience. It let out another enthusiastic trill, and Seokmin grinned. “Do you like chocolate?”


	4. Lost and Found

It was cold, always too cold. No matter what Vernon did to try and stay warm, from grabbing the thin imitations of blankets to attempting to layer up, nothing kept him warm. Everything felt like it had just been plunged into a bucket of ice water. He didn’t dare try and start a fire, barely even dared to move unless it was to find food or hide. Vernon shuddered in the equipment shed behind the campus track that he was currently hiding in.

Another awful thing about this place, aside from it being an empty imitation of his college, was how it was always dark like the time right before night. All colors were muted and tinted blue. Even the snow (or was it snow? Spores? It certainly didn’t melt like snow did) was blue, and it blanketed the ground and objects outside. There were also black tendrils of some kind creeping everywhere like tree roots or veins. Vernon had tried poking one once with a stick and it had been as hard as a fossil.

Vernon’s head shot up as a shrill cry sounded out, far too close for comfort and far too foreign to be human. His head whipped around as he looked for an exit, finding only the door he’d entered through and a slightly ajar window that barely looked big enough for him. As quietly as he could manage, he made his way to the window and lifted it open enough to squeeze out of. The cry came again, and he gave up any pretense he had of being quiet, scrambling out the window and hitting the ground outside with a thud.

There was no time to look back, he was up and running in seconds, shaking the snow or spores out of his face. He ducked around the shed to run into the college’s recreation center, his footsteps echoing through the empty corridors as an outraged cry sounded out behind him, though it was more distant. Vernon didn’t let himself relax, he just ducked his head and kept running, hoping that he’d find some way to get back to his home before his luck ran out.

 

* * *

 

“So let me get this straight,” Seungkwan said, raising a hand dramatically. Mingyu sighed internally. “You want us to try and break into a heavily guarded privately owned research facility because some kid we found in the woods says his friend is in there.”

“Basically,” Mingyu said, nodding.

Seungkwan looked at him and then all the other people in the room in disbelief. “Seriously?!”

“I mean, I’m inclined to believe the kid,” Chan said, glancing at Eight. “There’s bound to be something going on there. We all saw what Eight can do.” His words were accentuated by Eight waving a hand and making a spoon fly around in circles out of boredom.

“And if they’re really keeping kids hostage there, they have to be breaking so many laws,” Seokmin agreed. “So it’s not like we’re actually the ones in the wrong.”

“Except it’s incredibly dangerous and we’re just a bunch of college students?!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “And what about Vernon? He’s still missing! Are we just going to stop looking for him to pull this off?”

“I think investigating this facility could give us a clue about what happened to Vernon,” Mingyu said.

“And how on Earth did you come to that conclusion?” Seungkwan asked. “If you’re right, and that’s a big if, and this kid showing up after Vernon vanished wasn’t a coincidence, then this whole thing sounds like a trap!” Eight scowled at Seungkwan’s accusation, the spoon dropping from the air to hit the ground with a clang, but Seokmin and Chan looked more uncertain.

“Not a trap,” Eight said. “He is there.”

“Oh really?” Seungkwan asked. “Forgive me for not taking your word for it when we don’t know anything about you! We don’t even know your name!”

“Eight!” the boy insisted.

“Alright!” Mingyu intervened before anything dangerous started levitating. “Even if Vernon’s disappearance isn’t connected to the research facility, Eight says that there is also technology in there that could help us locate him.”

“Again, is there any proof of this?” Seungkwan asked.

“We don’t have any better leads!” Mingyu said, throwing up his hands in frustration. As soon as Seungkwan opened his mouth to argue, Mingyu’s cellphone rang, making all of them jump. Eight hastily retreated to the spare bedroom he’d been using, the door slamming shut behind him. Mingyu shot everyone a frantic look before checking his phone and seeing Seungcheol’s name. He put the call on speaker phone. “Hello?”

“Mingyu?” Seungcheol said, sounding choked. “Did you hear yet?”

“Hear what?” Mingyu asked, frowning. The others looked just as confused, Seokmin shrugging.

Seungcheol drew in a breath shakily, and Mingyu flexed his fingers unconsciously. He’d never heard the group’s unofficial leader sound so rough, like he’d been crying before he called. “Are you with any of the others?”

“Yeah,” Mingyu confirmed. “Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Chan are all here. You’re on speaker phone.”

“Okay good,” Seungcheol said, more to himself. “I’m not sure I can say this again anyway.” There was a pause as Seungcheol seemed to collect himself. “You need to come to the lawn immediately. They…they found Vernon’s body.”

 

* * *

 

Joshua felt numb as he watched the paramedics load Vernon’s body onto a stretcher and began to fit it into a body bag. “Oh my god!” Someone to Joshua’s right said. He turned to see Chan arrive beside him and watch the scene with undisguised horror.

“What happened?!” Mingyu asked, the rest of the younger kids rushing up after him, only stopped from rushing to Vernon’s side by a line of caution tape and some police officers holding the bystanders back. All the other members of the group were already at the scene, some having run straight from their classes to the lawn after getting Seungcheol’s text. Joshua knew that both Jeonghan and Soonyoung had earlier said they had tests that night, though they clearly didn’t care about missing their evening classes at the moment.

Joshua turned from where he’d been rubbing Soonyoung’s back comfortingly. The other boy had completely broken down when he’d seen them carrying Vernon’s form out of the woods, and he was barely holding himself together now enough to stay upright. “A student spotted him while they were jogging around the edge of campus and they called the police. He was identified just a few minutes ago.” The younger kids were noticeably upset at this, looking nauseated and terrified. Joshua felt helpless to comfort them, because what could he really say in a situation like this?

“How…how long had he been there?” Chan asked.

“They don’t know,” Joshua said, swallowing hard. “With this weather, they’ll have to take him to get an official autopsy before they can get an accurate estimation. They’re saying at least half a day though.”

Seokmin sat down on one of the benches on the lawn heavily, shell-shocked. “Oh my god.”

Seungkwan’s eyes were locked on the body as the paramedics finished zipping up the body bag, his unnaturally still form a far cry from his usually loud personality. “That’s not Vernon,” he finally said, voice soft but firm.

“What?” Jeonghan asked, turning to look at the boy.

“That’s not Vernon,” Seungkwan said, louder this time. Joshua froze in his comforting of Soonyoung at the conviction in Seungkwan’s voice.

“What do you mean?” Mingyu asked, looking confused. “The paramedics said-“

“I know what they said,” Seungkwan snapped. “That’s not him, they’re lying!” he glared at one of the impassive police officers who had taken no notice of his outburst. “They’re lying, and I’m going to prove it!” he stormed off the lawn.

Joshua moved to go after the boy, but Wonwoo just held out an arm to stop him and shook his head. “He needs time,” Wonwoo said.

“What are we going to do?” Joshua asked, watching the stretcher get loaded into the ambulance, the door slamming shut behind it.

Seungcheol breathed deeply. “Everyone go home and try to get some sleep. We’ll meet again tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they’ll know more by then about what happened.” The group dispersed uneasily to their respective apartments, a heavy feeling hanging in the air. 

 

* * *

 

Seokmin dropped heavily down into the chair by his desk, staring into the tank he’d bought originally for his lizard, but now had been repurposed since he’d taken the reptile back home over the last break. “Hey there,” he said, peering into the tank to see the small creature he’d rescued from the trash peek its head out of the tiny log inside. “How are you BongBong?”

The creature chirped in greeting and rushed out, allowing Seokmin to stroke its tiny head. Usually this would bring a smile to his face, but he couldn’t muster even the barest hint of one after hearing the news earlier that night. He sighed, withdrawing his hand from the tank. “I haven’t been doing well. I lost a friend today.” Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. “Even though we all were worried about him, I don’t think any of us expected this.”

The tadpole-like creature chirped again. “Sorry to burden you with this,” Seokmin said. “I just don’t have anyone else to talk to right now.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar, dropping a few chunks into the tank before retrieving a plate of hamburger meat he’d brought up from the fridge and dropping that in too. The tiny creature dug in happily, making a variety of squeaks and chirps. He’d originally planned on cooking tonight for himself and Seungkwan, but he didn’t have much of an appetite anymore and Seungkwan’s room was locked, the other boy not answering no matter how much Seokmin knocked on his door.

“I just want things to go back to normal,” he whispered, watching the tadpole eat. For the first time that night, he let himself cry.

 

* * *

 

Jihoon felt a sick churning in his stomach as he got back to his empty apartment, the place dark and cold. He flipped the lights on, trying to avoid looking at Vernon’s still open door as he rushed past to his own room. He flopped onto his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, the whole situation not feeling real. It probably wasn’t too uncommon for these kinds of tragedies to happen on college campuses, but the whole thing felt off to him. Maybe it was grief or denial, but Jihoon couldn’t shake the feeling that Seungkwan had been right and the body on the stretcher wasn’t Vernon’s, though he had no clue why it would be anything else. It had looked too fake, too clean, and no wounds that Jihoon had seen. Then again, what did Jihoon know about these things?

He had always been able to process his thoughts better when he talked through his problems out loud, so he took a deep breath and settled back on the bed. “Vernon,” he began. The lights flickered immediately, making him shoot up on the bed, glancing around warily. They electricity had been acting up ever since Vernon had vanished. He’d thought it was a coincidence at first but now…

‘I’m losing it,’ he thought, looking at the lights. Maybe it was his grief playing tricks on him, but it wasn't like anyone was around to see this. He licked his lips nervously. “Vernon?” he tried again. The lights dimmed again before coming back again. “Can you hear me?” The lights went haywire.

“Oh my god,” he muttered, scrambling off the bed to his feet. “Okay, okay. Vernon, if you can hear me, blink once for yes, twice for no. Can you hear me?” The lights dimmed once. Jihoon could hardly dare to believe it was happening. Should he call the others and risk looking like he’d gone insane? Should he keep testing it? What if Vernon actually was trying to communicate with him, like a ghost? He couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

“Okay, are you alive?” Jihoon said, the lights dimming once in response. Not a ghost then, but the what was another option? “Are you safe?” The lights flickered twice. “You’re not safe? Is someone after you?” Once. “Are you near the college?” Twice. “Where are you?” Jihoon realized too late that he hadn’t asked a yes or no question, but the lights began to light up in a sequence, like a path leading somewhere.

Jihoon hurried to follow the lights down the hallway to Vernon’s room. “Vernon?” he called, looking around the room wildly. The lights were flickering out of control, throwing frightening shadows around the room. “Vernon, where are you?!” He yelled and jumped backward when the lightbulb in Vernon’s bedside lamp exploded. All the other lights immediately stopped blinking, silence falling over the apartment.

“What…” Jihoon breathed, looking at the exploded lamp with wide eyes. He looked around the room again, but nothing else happened. “Okay. Okay, at least we can communicate,” he said out loud to the empty room, hoping Vernon could still hear him. “Don’t worry, Vernon, we’ll find you somehow.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. The Body Double

Jeonghan had been called lazy in the past, some of his friends joking that he was like a sloth, but it was just that he didn’t see any point in expending energy on unnecessary things. Now though he was shaken to the core, though he did his best not to show it. Vernon had been a bright light in their friend group, and his absence was all the more apparent since he’d gone missing. As the second oldest of the group Jeonghan felt responsible for the younger members, which was possibly why he was standing outside of Jihoon’s apartment the day after they’d gotten the news.

Jeonghan was like Jihoon in that they both tended to not express their emotions as freely as the others. A part of Jeonghan envied how Soonyoung and Seokmin could wear their hearts on their sleeves, laughing and crying freely. He knew how unhealthy it was to bottle everything up, and he was determined to get Jihoon out before the other boy holed up in his apartment for the rest of the semester like Jeonghan himself was inclined to do.

He paused outside the apartment, gathering his nerves before raising a hand and knocking on the door, bracing himself for whatever standoffish mood Jihoon might be in. After a few minutes of waiting, he knocked again. “Jihoon?”

“Coming,” Jihoon’s muffled voice came through the wood. The door swung open a second later. Jeonghan had expected the irritated expression on Jihoon’s face, but was confused that it didn’t seem to be caused by grief. It appeared more like Jeonghan had just interrupted Jihoon’s composing session or something else equally important to the other. Jihoon looked like he’d been up for hours, still wearing the same clothes from last night and hair mussed like he’d been running his fingers through it. “Yes?” the other boy prompted.

“I came to check on you,” Jeonghan said hesitantly, the statement coming out more like a question. “Just to see if you were okay.”

Jihoon blinked, as if actually processing Jeonghan was in front of him. He softened just a hair. “Oh. Thanks. I didn’t expect that.”

Jeonghan shifted nervously, feeling slightly ridiculous now. “Do you need anything?”

Jihoon looked ready to dismiss Jeonghan but paused, narrowing his eyes. Jeonghan tried not to squirm under his gaze. “Actually, I could use your help now that you’re here.” Jihoon stepped back, allowing the older boy into his apartment. He closed the door once Jeonghan was over the threshold. “Alright, this is going to sound crazy,” Jihoon warned.

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow. “Have you met the others in our friend group?”

“Even crazier,” Jihoon insisted. He took a deep breath. “Vernon is alive.”

Jeonghan’s eyebrows shot up, stunned. “Have you been talking to Seungkwan?” he finally asked. He’d expected something like this from Seokmin or Chan or, hell, even Seungcheol, but Jihoon? The one that usually brought all the others back to reality when they got too crazy?

“I know, I know,” Jihoon said. “But watch this.” He looked at the walls, or more specifically the lights on the walls. “Vernon?” he called hesitantly. They waited for a minute, Jeonghan half wondering if he should drag Jihoon to the university’s mental health counselor, when suddenly the lights flickered.

“What-?” Jeonghan asked.

“Vernon,” Jihoon said again, “Jeonghan’s here.” The lights flashed again. “Okay just like we did before, once for yes, twice for no.” The lights dimmed and came back up once.

“What’s going on, Jihoon?” Jeonghan hissed, breaths coming quicker.

“I told you, it’s crazy,” Jihoon muttered lowly. “But I can talk to him somehow.” Louder, “Vernon, are you near us?” The lights dimmed twice. “Are you safe?” Twice again. Jihoon turned to Jeonghan. “You ask something.”

“Um,” Jeonghan shot Jihoon a look. “Vernon, can you hear me?” The lights blinked once. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered. “Vernon, can you come back?” Twice. “Where is he?” Jeonghan asked.

Jihoon shrugged, looking frustrated. “He doesn’t seem to know himself, and the yes and no questions can only get me so far. I need to come up with a way we can talk more, but I’m stuck.”

A thought struck Jeonghan. “I have an idea,” he said. “Can Vernon control which lights he turns on and off?”

“I think so,” Jihoon said.

“Okay,” Jeonghan said, a plan forming. “We have to go to the store.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m sorry we had to call you in for this,” the coroner said, actually looking apologetic to his credit. “But his parents are overseas and won’t be able to fly in soon, and you were his emergency contact.”

Seungcheol swallowed hard at the news. “I see.”

“You just need to identify the body,” the man continued. He drew back the sheet, and Seungcheol’s breath caught in his throat looking down at his friend’s body. His stomach churned at how still Vernon looked.

Suddenly, the phone rang in another room, getting the coroner’s attention. “Ah, I need to get that,” he said with a grimace. “I’ll be right back.” He left in a swish of his white coat, leaving Seungcheol alone with Vernon’s body.

Seungcheol gazed down at his friend. Almost unbidden, Seungkwan’s voice popped back into his head, insisting that wasn’t his friend. Seungkwan had probably been speaking out in grief and denial, but some other impulse was tugging at Seungcheol. As he examined the body again, it started looking more and more unrealistic in the low light. Almost too perfect and unmarked (save for the autopsy stitches). He blew out a harsh breath. The stress of losing his friend must be getting to him if he was seriously considering Seungkwan’s conspiracy theory, however…

He bit his lip and dug around in his pocket for his Swiss army knife, a gift for his birthday from Vernon, before drawing it out. He snapped the knife open and glared warily down at the body below him. Was he really going to do this? Then he remembered how devastated all his friends were, especially Seungkwan. The boy had probably been one of the closest members to Vernon and, though he was known for his exaggerations, Seungcheol doubted the boy would make such an accusation lightly.

Seungcheol took a deep breath and plunged the knife downward, drawing it through the skin in a line. Immediately, he felt very little resistance to his actions, which he imagined wouldn’t happen if it was actually Vernon. He pulled the knife up, jaw dropping when the blade came away clean and white cotton spewed from the puncture rather than blood or any kind of other fluid. He froze, knife in hand, over the stuffed imitation of Vernon, thoughts racing.

Seungkwan had been right, that really wasn’t Vernon on the table. Then where was his friend? Who made the imitation and what were they trying to cover up? Did they have Vernon? Did they _kill_ Vernon? How many people were in on it? His stomach swooped at the theories his panicked mind began forming. Suddenly, Seungcheol heard the coroner’s footsteps approaching the room, and he hastily flipped the blade back and shoved the knife into his pocket before throwing the sheet back over the “body”.

“Are you done?” the coroner asked gently, noting that the sheet was covering the body. Seungcheol wondered how involved he was, the man’s calm tone now setting him on edge rather than being comforting.

“Yes,” Seungcheol replied, voice wavering slightly. He hoped the man wrote it off as grief rather than fear. He cleared his throat to steady it. “That’s him.”

“I’m sorry,” the man said. 

Seungcheol nodded jerkily. “Can I leave?”

“Yes. We’ll let you know when we have more information,” the coroner said, luckily shutting the drawer with Vernon’s body on it without looking under the sheet. Seungcheol bowed to the man and walked out of the building as quickly as he could without looking suspicious. As soon as he’d left he pulled out his phone, tapping on the group chat.

 

**Seungcheol**

Let’s meet for lunch. It’s important.

 

He glanced behind him, the feeling of being followed creeping into his system as he pocketed his phone again. Seungcheol got the feeling that if they really wanted to know what happened to Vernon and pursued this further, they would have to be a lot more careful.

 

* * *

 

Soonyoung was eating lunch with some of the fellow members of his dance team, not necessarily because he wanted to, but he felt obligated to. Honestly, he couldn’t even muster up a smile and mostly poked his food around his plate as the conversation flowed around him. Fortunately, all the other members knew about Vernon, and no one forced him to join the conversation. Unfortunately, this meant that some of them gave him apologetic looks every now and again, which was slowly grating on his last nerves.

“I think Taeyong’s fraternity is holding a party tonight,” Minhyuk said, stuffing some food in his mouth right after he finished speaking.

Kihyun raised an eyebrow. “Really? Should we go?”

Minhyuk shrugged. “They always play good music.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Shownu said. “I heard their parties can get out of control.”

“And remember what happened at that last party one of the fraternities had?” Jooheon asked. “That first year, Mark Lee I think, went missing!” Jooheon was immediately elbowed by Changkyun who tilted his head in Soonyoung’s direction meaningfully. Jooheon grimaced, mouth snapping shut. “Uh, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Soonyoung said, stabbing a chunk of meat rather forcefully. “What happened to the kid?”

Jooheon looked at him warily but replied, “I don’t know for sure, but his friends just said he went around the back of the building to get more drinks, and he didn’t come back. After half an hour some of them went to look for him, but they couldn’t find anything.”

Soonyoung’s gut churned as he compared the situations. One missing college kid was uncommon, but at least not too out of the ordinary. Two disappearances within a few days? That was suspicious. Soonyoung’s phone beeped, and once he checked it he stood up abruptly. “I have to go,” he said. 

“What’s wrong?” Hyungwon asked, concerned.

“I just have to meet the others,” Soonyoung explained. “It’s from Seungcheol and he was just at the coroner’s.” His dance team just nodded and waved him off, saying they’d see him later. He all but ran from the campus cafeteria to the cafe a few blocks off campus. Maybe the news about Mark Lee was a coincidence, but something in his gut told him it was connected. He was definitely going to get to the bottom of this.

 

* * *

 

Vernon was gasping for air, lungs burning as he stumbled along in the woods. The sounds of the monster got closer and closer. He’d been able to avoid it for a while, but it seemed like he’d finally been cornered. Vernon had no clue where he was going, most likely he was hopelessly lost even if he’d managed to lose the creature, but he didn’t care as long as he lived.

His vision started going fuzzy as he pushed his body to its limits. He didn’t see the tree root in time, tripping over it and crashing to the ground in a heap. Immediately he flipped over to try and get to his feet, but it was too late. The monster loomed over him, a hideous, shriveled and slimy looking thing whose tulip shaped head opened to reveal lines of sharp teeth.

The monster let out a triumphant screech and reached toward Vernon with its dirty claws, when suddenly a large chunk of wood shot out from nowhere and crashed into the monster, sending it flying out of sight. A boy appeared from the direction of the flying wood, though Vernon couldn’t believe that the boy had thrown it with his physique.

The boy wasted no time in rushing to Vernon’s side and hauling him to his feet. He gripped Vernon’s shoulders and stared into his eyes seriously. “Are you hurt? What portal did they send you through? What number are you? I’m Six.”

Vernon gaped at him, not understanding the questions. “I’m…fine?” He said. “What do you mean portal? What numbers? What are you talking about?”

The boy’s face, already pale in the dim lighting, seemed to drain even more of its color. “Don’t tell me you just stumbled in here!” There was an outraged animalistic scream that Vernon immediately recognized as coming from the creature that had just taken the hit. It didn’t sound wounded so much as furious. The other boy cursed. “We have to go,” he said, tugging Vernon along.

Vernon’s body responded before his brain as he ran after the boy through the woods. He had no idea where he was being led, but the cries of the creature grew more and more distant and anywhere else had to be a better option. Eventually they came to a stop near one of the campus buildings, both of them breathing heavily. Vernon could no longer hear the creature behind them, so he relaxed fractionally.

“Who are you?” Vernon asked when he’d gotten his breath back. He actually tried to take in the other boy’s appearance this time. Now that Vernon looked at him, the other boy didn’t appear too much older than Vernon himself. He was slender and wearing very basic shapeless clothes. Though the other looked exhausted and hungry, his eyes were sharp, scanning their surroundings every few seconds. “I’m Vernon,” he offered, hoping this would prompt the other to spill some more information about whatever was going on.

The boy turned his sharp gaze on Vernon before seeming to accept him, extending a hand. Vernon shook it, feeling like the action was wildly out of place for the craziness of their situation. “My name was Six, but since the men who called me that in here are all dead, you can call me Jun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cashier: "You boys must be getting a head start on your Christmas shopping!"  
> Jeonghan, from behind 72 packs of Christmas lights: "Yeah, something like that."


End file.
